Saturday, October 29, 2016

Announcement: Annette Schiller Leading 2 Tastings of German Premium Wines at the Annual Meetings of the American Wine Society in Los Angeles, USA

Picture: The 2016 American Wine Society Annual Meetings

Annette Schiller, President of ombiasy PR and WineTours and member of the American Wine Society, will lead two German wine tastings at the forthcoming Annual Meetings of the American Wine Society. The tastings are sponsored by ombiasy WineTours and the wine producers whose wines are being presented or their US importers.

Picture: Christian Schiller and Oliver Haag, Weingut Fritz Haag, in Seattle. We will Taste a Weingut Fritz Haag Wine at the Saturday Session. See: The German Winemakers at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, USA

The 2016 American Wine Society Annual Meetings will take place on November 2 - 5, 2016, at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, South of Los Angeles.

More than 600 members from all over the USA are coming to this 3-day event, filled with tastings, seminars and presentations.

The American Wine Society was founded in 1967 as a non-profit, educational, consumer-oriented organization for those interested in learning more about all aspects of wine. On October 7, 1967, around 200 grape growers, home winemakers, and wine lovers gathered at Dr. Konstantin Frank’s vineyard on Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, NY for the AWS’ initial meeting.

Picture: Christian Schiller Tasting with Kai Schätzel at Weingut Schätzel. We will Taste a Weingut Schätzel Wine at the Friday Session. See: A New Fixture in the Reemerging Red Slope of Nierstein - Visiting Kai Schaetzel and his Weingut Schaetzel in Nierstein, Rheinhessen, Germany

In December of the same year, the thirteen charter members, led by Founder Dr. Konstantin Frank, met to determine the organization structure of AWS and elect officers. Now in its 49th year, the American Wine Society is the largest consumer based wine education organization in North America. Membership is open to anyone interested in wine and over 21 years of age.

Picture: Annette Schiller, David Schildknecht and Hannsjörg Rebholz, Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz. in New York. We will Taste a Weingut Ökonomierat Rebhalz at the Friday Session. See also: Tasting at Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz in Siebeldingen, Pfalz – Germany-South by ombiasy WineTours (2015)

In the early days, AWS members were located primarily in the eastern part of the country. As the society grew , we established chapters throughout the eastern U.S., then into the south and Midwest, and finally into western states. Today, the American Wine Society has over 5,000 members in 45 states and 120 chapters across the U.S.

Picture: Annette and Christian Schiller’s Summer of Riesling 2016 in McLean, Virginia, with German Winemaker Christian L. Stahl. We will Taste a Weingut Christian Stahl wine at the Friday Session. See also: Welcome to the USA: Christian L. Stahl from Winzerhof Stahl in Franken, Germany

Each November the Society hosts hosts a three-day national conference with two full days of educational seminars, nearly 49 to choose from. Winery owners, wine educators, and renowned wine makers are selected to present sessions during this national event. In addition, a program educating members to become AWS certified wine judges is conducted on the day preceding the seminars.

Germany is increasingly becoming known as a serious red wine producer; Germany is the #3 producer world-wide of Pinot-Noir (= Spätburguder).

Germans have always been obsessed with sparkling wines: 1 out of 4 sparklers produced in the world is consumed in Germany; and Germany is home to the second largest sparkling wine producer world-wide.

Germany is known for its Rieslings. Yes, it is the #1 Riesling producer world-wide, but also the #1 Pinot-Blanc (Weissburgunder) and #2 Pinot-Gris (Grauburgunder) producer. And, today, most of the white wines produced in Germany are dry.

More than 70 people have signed up for this event, where Annette will present: The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry.

Although many people think that there is only one wine classification system in Germany – the classification system of the Law of 1971 – this is not correct. True, the classification system of the Law of 1971 is the standard classification system in Germany and many winemakers in Germany use this approach. A large number of winemakers, however, have moved away from the standard, in particular the VDP producers and more generally, the producers of premium wines in Germany.

In a nutshell, the VDP is moving to a classification system that resembles very much the classification system in the Bourgogne. The classification of the VDP puts the terroir principle at the center of its classification approach. With the latest modifications of 2012, the absolutely finest vineyards are called Grosse Lage (for the 2011 vintage still called Erste Lage) and dry wines from these super top vineyards are called Grosses Gewächs. Grosses Gewächs wines are the finest dry wines from Germany’s finest vineyards.

We will taste wines from each category of the new classification. The wines are sponsored by Dr. Loosen Bros., the US importer for: Dr. Loosen (Mosel), Villa Wolf (Pfalz), Robert Weil (Rheingau), Wittmann (Rheinhessen), Maximin Grünhaus (Mosel) and Fritz Haag (Mosel).

We will have 6 wines: 3 wines from the highest quality level (Grosse Lage/ Grand Cru) and 1 wine from each of the other 3 quality levels:

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About Me

I live in the greater Washington DC (US) and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) areas and write about wine. I am a member of the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers). Before starting to write about wine in 2009, I was for almost 30 years an economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I am currently in Washington DC.